This Mexican Lake House Is All About the Views

A new decade is upon us: celebrate the end of the 2010s with these revel-ready party decorations and accessories.

An entrepreneur-turned-DIY builder expands his eco-friendly Yucca Valley property with this translucent desert structure.

Martha’s Vineyard is home to the single largest concentration of our residential work and some of our earliest projects, including the Polly Hill Arboretum. Chilmark House, like many of these commissions, is immersed in the landscape and continually reconnects its inhabitants with the surrounding woods, pools of sunlight and nearby Vineyard Sound. Entire walls and windows are designed to vanish and erase boundaries between indoors and outdoors. We were guided in the earliest phase of the project by the couple’s wish for distinct public and private spaces and the site’s topography. The central public space—the living and dining areas–plus a sitting room in the guest wing, are oriented toward a kind of natural sun-filled well on the house’s south side. Interior load-bearing elliptical columns allow sliding doors and windows to make large openings to the south in the exterior walls. Opposite, on the north side, sliding windows create large gaps in the exterior, connecting the living room and kitchen directly to the woods and waters of the sound. Bedrooms are on the wooded edges, on the east and west sides. A roof deck, terrace and side decks create outdoor living spaces. Shortly after completion of this project, the couple asked us to begin designing a guesthouse nearby as their family continued to grow.

A completely transformative renovation opened this former tract home up to views, light, and its stunning outdoor setting. It’s all about the views, but this residence wasn’t always this way. What is now a metal and cedar stunner situated on a private, hilly enclave above Calabasas, was once a darkly lit 1960s-era generic single family home. A two-year renovation made a total overhaul for an entrepreneur and his wife, empty nesters with kids living nearby. The architect, Brian Wickersham of AUX Architecture in Los Angeles, didn’t change a thing in terms of the home’s footprint and rooflines; he couldn’t. “We initially looked at building a new home, but quickly learned that because of an ancient paleolithic landslide, that the county requirements for restraining the hill would be cost prohibitive and time-consuming—potentially five or more years,” says Wickersham. “Instead, we devised a plan to work within the existing house footprint and building envelope for a project that would be classified as a renovation.” In addition to these parameters, the homeowners tasked him with throwing out all of the old—down to the last salad fork—and bringing in everything new—all the while designing something where they could entertain a growing gaggle of grandkids. The result is a modern home that transitions from indoors to outdoors with the ease this property was intended for. “It’s about striking a balance between modest down-to-earth people and helping them realize they can be living a luxurious lifestyle,” says Wickersham. It’s about them living at a higher level of luxury.” A composition of dark standing seam metal and vertical grain cedar give the appearance of three cut pieces, shifted side-to-side, the wood being the cut face. The cedar siding also carries from outside to in, bringing warmth to the home and reinforcing the inside-outside connection. Solar panels, thermal panels to heat the pool, and a thermally coupled HVAC system enable the home to largely function off-the-grid.

Nature creeps into this clean-lined, matte-black home by way of outdoor terraces and courtyards.